Legislature Approves Controversial CEQA 'Reforms'
Dan Bacher
Indy Bay
09/10/2011
The Planning and Conservation League today announced its opposition to controversial "reforms" of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) approved by the Legislature.
"The Planning & Conservation League, joining with a coalition including Sierra Club California, Coalition for Clean Air, Clean Water Action, and a host of environmental justice and community groups from the Los Angeles area and throughout California, tried valiantly to stave off three bills that will weaken protections of The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)," the group wrote.
"Unfortunately, SB 226 (Simitian), SB 292 (Padilla) and AB 900 (Buchanan), all either introduced or dramatically amended in the last 36 hours of the legislative session, passed the Legislature on its final day of session. SB 226 will, if signed into law by the Governor, exempt from CEQA certain urban projects deemed ‘green’, with inadequate definitions of for what defines ‘urban’ and ‘green,'" PCL said.
AB 900, while not an exemption, “streamlines” CEQA’s judicial review requirements, potentially limiting the public’s voice in challenging projects.
These questionable "reforms" take place at a time when over 11 million fish have been killed in the state and federal Delta water pumping facilities since January 1. Undermining CEQA only makes the epic task of restoring our imperiled Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and other fish populations even harder. For more information on the Delta fish carnage, go to: http://blogs.alternet.org/danbacher/2011/09/09/over-11-million-fish-salvaged-in-delta-death-pumps-since-january-1/
These "reforms" have been passed by the Legislature at a time when our fish populations, fishing rights and environment are under assault by corporate interests. The Brown and Obama administrations are fast-tracking the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) process to build their beloved peripheral canal to export more water to corporate agribusiness and southern California water agencies.
The attempt to exempt so-called "green" projects from CEQA sounds like yet another opportunity for corporate interests to greenwash their legacy by setting up fake "green" projects that are not subject to a thorough environmental review.
This is the problem that grassroots environmentalists, fishermen and Tribes encountered in dealing with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrupt Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. MLPA advocates argued that since the MLPA, overseen by oil industry, real estate, marina development, agribusiness and other corporate operatives, was a "green" project, it was not subject to a complete environmental review under CEQA.
The attempt to further limit the public voice by "streamlining" CEQA's judicial requirements under AB 900 also couldn't come at a worse time, a time when the state and federal governments have launched a virtual war on civil liberties, freedom of speech and assembly, democratic process and the U.S and California Constitutions.
